Driving mechanism.



No; 686,685. Patented N ov. l2. mm. J. n. wmmn.

DRIVING MEGHANiSM.

(Application filed June 18, 1901.) (No Model.)

INVENTOR:

WITNESSES: j di By A ztomeys, 2%

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES N. WRIGHT, or NEWARK, NEW JERsEY, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH s. MUNDY, .OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

' SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 686,685, dated November 12, 1901.

Application filed June 18, 1901- Serial No. 64,995- (No model.)

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES N. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driving Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in driving mechanisms, and is particularly applicable to hoisting machinery.

In the preferred form of my invention as applied to mast-turning mechanism for hoist ing-engines I provide a vertically-arranged shaft, upon which the spool or drum is fixed, which shaft is carried in a suitable framework adapted to be bolted to the frame of the hoisting-engine. Loosely mounted upon this shaft are two driving-gears, which are constantly rotated in opposite directions by a pinion which is fixed to a short shaft, carrying at its opposite end a pinion which is in mesh with the driving-gear of the frictiondrum. The spool hence remains normally at rest with the two'driving-gears revolving idly upon its shaft. I provide means for fixing either one of such driving-gears to the spoolshaft, so as to impart tothe latter movement in either direction, such means preferably comprising one or more friction members in the form of shoes, which are held against rotation with respect to the shaft and which are adapted to be pressed outwardly against the inner faces of the driving-gears. I preferably construct the lower end of the shaft in tubular form, and within the bore thus provided I place a sliding toggle-block, which is adapted to be moved longitudinally of the shaft a short distance in both directions from an intermediate position, and thereby straighten one or the other of two pairs of toggle arms or links, thus forcing the oppositely-arranged friction-shoes into engagement with the appropriate driving-gear and clutching the latter to the shaft. The tubular end of the shaft 1 is slotted transversely to give passage to the toggle-links. The toggle-block is connected to a suitable operating-handle by a pin, which engages the block and passes transversely through longitudinal slots in the shaft, the

. ends of the pin being fastened to a grooved derrick or similar device, Figure 1 is a fragmentary end elevation of a hoisting-engine, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical mid-section, partly in elevation, showing the preferred construction of my device. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is an elevation, partly in section, on the line 4 4 in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, let A indicate the spool or drum of a winch or like device,

and B its shaft, mounted in suitable bearings O O. The bearings G C are arranged vertically one above the other, being cast in a suitable framework D, which is adapted to be bolted in the construction shown to the frame of a hoisting-engine, as best seen in Fig. 4. The lower part of the shaft B (which is thus vertically arranged) is formed of somewhat larger diameter and is bored from its lower end upwardly to near its middle.

E and F are suitable driving-gears, (shown as slightly beveled,) which are mounted loosely upon the shaft B and which are constantly rotated in opposite directions by a beveled pinion G, which is mounted upon a short shaft G, which carries at its opposite end a spur-gear H, meshing with the driving-gear H of the hoisting-engine. The gears E and F may of course receive movement in any other manner. Each of the gears E and F is formed with an annular depression or groove a between its hub b and its toothed periphery, this groove being finished at c to form a bearing or friction face for the friction-shoes I, to be referred to. The gear E is supported upon the shaft B by a shoulder 01, formed on the shaft, and the gear F rests upon the upper ing mechanism, which I will 110w describe in the preferred form illustrated.

The clutching mechanism comprises, as shown, for each of the gears E and F a pair of oppositely-arranged friction-shoes I,carried by the shaft B, and means for forcing such shoes outwardly into engagement with the friction-face o of the gear. Each of the shoes I, as best seen in Fig. 3, is approximately semicircular in shape and is formed on its inner side with a recess 1, into which is fitted the boss or hnbj of a toggle arm or link J. The shoe and link are pivoted together by a pin 7., which passes through the hub j, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The opposite ends of the links J pass through the tubular wall of the shaft B, the latter being slotted at Z to permit the links to pass within it. The slots are of sufiicient length to permit the necessary play of the links, but preferably are only so wide as to form a close-working fit with the sides thereof. Within the bore of the shaft 13 the ends of the links J are engaged by a toggle-block M, which is formed at its ends with oppositely-arranged depressions or grooves m, into which the ends of the links are received. By forcing the toggle-block M upwardly the links J of the clutching mechanism for the gear E are straightened and the friction shoes I are thrust outwardly into engagement with the gear, which is thereby clutched to the shaft B and rotates the latter in the appropriate direction by engagement of the sides of the links with the walls of the slots Z. Upon engagement of the shoes and gear the inertia of the shaft B and the load carried by the spool A must be overcome, and this imposes a strain upon the parts which is sometimes severe. The hubs j of the links J are hence made of considerable length, as shown, so as to afford a broad pivotal bearing for the links in the shoes I. The toggle-block M serves also to operate the toggle-links of the clutching mechanism for the lower gear F, which are, however, reversely arranged, so that when the block M is at one extreme of movement the shaft is clutched to the gear E and when at the other extreme to the gear F. lVhen the block occupies an intermediate position, both gears are disconnected from the shaft, and the latter, with its friction-shoes and operating mechanism, stands idly, while the gears E and F continue their rotation in opposite directions.

The movements of the toggle-block may be imparted to it in any suitable manner. As shown, the block is connected to an exteriorgrooved collar N by a pin 0, which passes through slots 0 in the shaft, which are so formed as to permit the collar to slide lengthwise of the shaft. The collar is moved by a suitable operating-handle P, fulcrumed at p and provided with a yoke or strap g, which straddles the collar. When the shaft is in motion, the collar rotates with it within the yoke.

The upper pair of friction-shoes is held in approximately correct position by a flat spring or springs 11, which are shown as fastened to the collar N. The lower pair of shoes need no special supporting means, as they rest directly upon the gear F. In operation the gear which is idle rotates about its pair of shoes, and bearing-faces c and t" are hence formed upon the respective parts to avoid undue friction at the points of contact.

The device provided by myinvention affords a simple, compact, and extremely efficient means for controlling the direction of rotation of a spool or other shaft when taking power from a shaft driven constantly in a single direction.

I claim as my invention the following-defined novel features, substantially as hereinbefore specified, namely:

1. In a driving mechanism, the combination with a hollow shaft B, and a gear E, mounted loosely thereon, of two oppositelyarranged friction members adapted to make contact with said gear, toggle-links connected with said members, and a toggle-block within said shaft adapted to engage said links and to press said members outwardly into engagement with said gear, the gear E being supported upon the shaft B by a shoulder 01 formed on said shaft.

2. In a driving mechanism, the combination with a hollow shaft, and a gear mounted loosely thereon, and having an internal friction-face, of two oppositely-arranged frictionshoes adapted to engage said face, togglelinks connected to said shoes and passing into the hollow of said shaft, and a sliding toggleblock within said shaft engaging the inner ends of said links and adapted to press said shoes into engagement with said face.

3. In a driving mechanism, the combina tion with a hollow shaft having slots formed therein, and a gear mounted loosely thereon, and having an internal friction-face, of two oppositely-arranged friction-shoes adapted to engage said face, toggle-links connected to said shoes passing into the hollow of said shaft and engaging the walls of said slots, and a sliding toggle-block within said shaft, engaging the ends of said links, and adapted to press said shoes into contact with said face.

4. In a driving mechanism, the combination of a shaft, two gears mounted loosely thereon, means for driving said gears in opposite directions, clutch mechanism between said gears for clutching the same separately to said shaft, and a single operating-handle for operating said clutching mechanism, said handle being arranged between said gears and adapted to clutch them alternately by move ment in alternate directions.

5. In a driving mechanism, the combination of a shaft, two gears mounted loosely thereon, means for driving said gears in op posite directions, clutching mechanism between said gears for clutching the same separately to said shaft, comprising clutch members rotating with the shaft for engaging said gears and a sliding block Within said shaft for operating said members, and a single operating-handle located between said gears and engaging said block so as to actuate one of said members when moved in one direction and the other of said members when moved in the opposite direction.

6. In a driving mechanism, the combination with a vertical shaft having a spool at one end, and formed with a bore at its other end, of a gear mounted loosely upon said shaft near the end of said bore, a pinion meshing with said gear, a second gear mounted loosely upon said shaft, and meshing with said pinion, a pair of friction shoes for each of said gears adapted to move into engagement therewith, a toggle-link for each of said shoes, pivoted thereto, and passing into the bore of said 20 shaft, the toggle-links for the respective pairs of shoes being oppositely arranged, and a sliding toggle-block formed with oppositely-arranged recesses at each end, said oppositelyarranged recesses adapted to receive the inner ends of the respective pairs of toggle-links, and said toggle-block adapted to straighten one of said pairs of links by movement in one direction, and the other of said pairs of links by movement in the opposite direction, and thereby force one or the other of said pairs of shoes into engagement with their respective gears.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES N. WRIGHT. 

